Green Bay Packers: Aaron Rodgers not yet cleared by medical staff

The Green Bay Packers have yet to clear quarterback Aaron Rodgers this week and it is starting to look like he will be sidelined again in Week 16. Rodgers got some work in practice last week and looked pretty good, but the team’s medical staff has yet to clear him.

Rodgers broke his left collarbone in Week 9 against the Chicago Bears and has not seen the field since. If you include the game he was injured in, the team has gone 2-4-1 since his injury. While Matt Flynn has led the Packers to back-to-back wins, both came by just one point against the Atlanta Falcons (22-21) and Dallas Cowboys (37-36), two incredibly shaky teams.

If the Packers can beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16 and win at Chicago in Week 17, there is still a chance they can win the NFC North and get a home playoff game. That’s going to be a difficult road, but it is certainly possible given how much the Steelers and Bears have struggled this season.

But in the postseason the Packers can’t be relying on Flynn to take them to the promised land. While Rodgers has been working hard to return from his injury this season, it may not happen. We should know by Friday whether he or Flynn will start against the Steelers, but it’s looking more and more likely that Flynn will get the nod.

The 30-year-old Rodgers was off to another good start this season, and before his injury had completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 2,218 yards, with 15 touchdowns and just four interceptions. His quarterback rating of 108.0 was, as is always the case with Rodgers, stellar.

Flynn has done an admirable job as an emergency replacement, but if the Packers want to make anything out of this season, they need their star quarterback under center.